The subject invention is a unique, efficient process for radiolabeling methionine-containing peptides and proteins.
Radiolabeled proteins and peptides have been used for some time in the study of many biological systems. Processes for performing such radiolabeling have heretofore proven inefficient in the labeling of proteins and peptides which contain the amino acid methionine due to undesirable oxidation and cleavage of the sulfur residue in methionine. Such oxidation often results in loss of biological activity (Brot and Weissbach, Arch. Biochemistry and Biophysics, 223, 271(1983) and, hence, the numerous oxidized forms of the radiolabeled proteins must be separated from the useful, non-oxidized radiolabeled protein. This requires lengthy chromatography procedures which are often unsuccessful.